One of Heade¹s Þrst large-scale works, this painting
was praised by a reviewer in the 1860s for its evocation of the "ominous
hush...[and] the dread feeling in the coming storm." The artist¹s name
was not then well known, but the same writer predicted that if he was
"capable of diverse statements of nature as true as this, he will make
his mark."